PNP 12 to strengthen Pulis sa Barangay program

By Nirvana Alpha Vita G. Fruylan

Wednesday 8th of August 2012

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Aug 8 (PIA) -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Office 12 recently bared its plan of strengthening the Pulis sa Barangay program to ensure community cooperation in maintaining peace and order in the locality.

In a dialogue with stakeholders last week, PRO 12 Regional Director PCSupt Alex Paul Monteagudo said the General Santos City Police Office (GSCPO) has deployed one police liaison officer to each barangay of the city to coordinate with community officials in planning and executing public safety services.

Monteagudo said they are currently working on the training of these police personnel to make sure that they can effectively carry out their responsibilities as conduit of the police and the community.

“As a good start we encourage them to tour around the barangay and give away calling cards with their contact information and other hotline numbers which the community could call during emergency,” he explained.

One of the issues raised during the dialogue is the inadequate police forces in the region.

PSSupt Daniel Mayoni, Chief of Regional Personnel and Human Resource Development Division revealed that there are only 5,493 police officers and non officers who are maintaining the peace and order situation of the entire South Central Mindanao.

To address this problem, Monteagudo underscored the importance of enhancing the involvement and capacity of the community in crime prevention through a series of educational initiatives.

PRO 12, he said is planning to conduct a “community security education program seminar” to empower the grassroots to help the police in fighting against crimes.

“Many people are scared to report crime incidents because they do not know whom to call,” he pointed out.

Monteagudo said there is also a need for the police leadership to sit down with the community to discuss strategies and pro-active measures in preventing crimes.

He said the absence of government presence especially in remote areas prompted criminal elements to thrive there.

He noted, however, that there are thousands of puroks in the region and visiting all of them seemed impossible, but he planned to make it by visiting one community per week.

“As what the old Chinese proverb reminds us, moving a mountain begins with lifting one stone,” he said. (PGFruylan/PIA12-Gensan)